EDITORIAL: Top Deck owes patrons a safe atmosphere

It was unnerving to hear recent reports of the trouble happening at one of the few late-night clubs patrons have to choose from in Farmington.

Clearly, more training for the staff involved and perhaps some type of uniform or badge to identify them would help.

It was reported that nearly every night the Top Deck nightclub located in downtown Farmington is open, police respond to some type of public disturbance, according to police records. The nightclub is open about 208 days each year, from Wednesday through Saturday, and in a span of one year, from May 2011 through May 10, 2012, police responded 189 times to the bar.

What is wrong with that number? That is higher than the days our kids attend school each year.

Who is causing the trouble? Is it unruly bar patrons? Are bartenders overserving? Are bouncers taking part in fights rather than trying to stop them? Those questions demand answers.

Apparently from the reports, some of the problem is caused by the club's bouncers.

Since they wear normal clothing with no clear way to tell who is a bouncer, it's hard to tell who is out to get you and who has your back, so to speak. The bouncers do not wear any sort of clothing that clearly labels them as employees, security, or any other staff member. So when fights break out, it's hard to tell who is there to end it or who is there to join it.

The scenes when fights occur inside the bar and outside in the parking lot have been described as chaotic.

Advertisement

The injuries that have occurred have sent people to the hospital.

The job of a bouncer is to provide safety and security to bar patrons and employees. Establishment owners have a responsibility to reasonably ensure they protect patrons against foreseeable threats of injury.

But if the bouncers are too often involved in the fight, who is to blame? Should the club owners provide better or more adequate training? Yes.

Top Deck is a popular club and has many customers who enjoy the social watering hole it is. However, when it comes to confrontational situations that can occur in any bar scene, Top Deck owes it to those customers to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.